Pouring One's Heart Out

Sunday is a day for mass. As Iwan decided, he joined today’s morning mass at the church. As his spirit refreshed and the weight of living lifted above, wonders of life kept showing up. This time after the holy communion. A line of children waiting their turns to receive a blessing from the priest. Yet there’s one peculiar child that disturbed his thought.

“(That kid’s still there? I thought he already received a bless- Wha- did he just high fived the priest? Oh a blessing to the priest! Wonderful- AH! Focus! Focus!)”

After the mass, it is time for breakfast. In front of the church is a hunger extinguisher in the form of a yellow rice seller. After 15 portions have been sold, now it’s Iwan’s turn. A tiny bowl of yellow rice, accompanied by shredded omelette, fried chicken wing, potato fritters, shrimp crackers, sambal, dried Tempe, and beef floss, all wrapped inside banana leaves designed for takeaway.

He can’t wait to eat it, so he searches for a place to sit. An empty buk is perfect; situated above a gutter, the sound of its content clashing with pebbles is peaceful to everyone who listens to it as he eats the yellow rice. It has a subtle taste of spices, sweet, salty, and a bit crunchy. But the wealthiest taste of all is rice, with hints of turmeric, coconut milk, pandan leaves, lemongrass, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves.

After he arrived home, it was time to heal 15 patients, start at 10 AM, break for an hour at noon, and finish at 5 PM. A bucket of salt water on the right, a translucent crystal stick, a guidebook on the left, and an alcohol spray. Pray first, then take a deep breath. Swipe with one or both hands several times or as many times as necessary. Swipe toward the bucket to destroy negative energy, swipe around both arms, swipe towards the bucket, and spray the alcohol on both arms. Give energy to affected organs and chakras. Repeat the process until 5 PM.

At 12 PM, it's time for lunch. Prepare a bowl of rice and crack two free-range chicken eggs. Cook over medium heat with a touch of oil. Decimate every fiber of the egg with a wooden spatula and add some salt. Scrambled eggs are ready to serve. Once the plate is clean, it's time to continue his duty.

“5 missed calls from Bayu? What’s up with him? Hello Bay?”

“There you are! I’ve been calling you 5 times already.”

“I'm sorry. As always, it's a national duty with 15 patients. My phone has been in silent mode since 7 hours ago.”

“No prob, dude, by the way… You free this evening?”

“Of course. Do you have something on your mind?”

“You see through me, huh? I’m stuck on a love triangle.”

“Hahaha! Lucky bastard.”

“Ain’t so lucky if you were me! Can we meet up at Gajah Mungkur Bar at 7? I’m feelin’ like drinkin’.”

“You barely can drink. Are you sure about this? You better not get political later. I've had enough politics lately.”

“Relax, it’ll be fine! Catch ya later!”

“Take care!”

Gajah Mungkur bar is a small, hidden bar. It is pretty close to the Gajahwong River, a cozy place to chat, get drunk, and sober up by throwing your drunk friend to the river (not recommended). A local specialty is always available there: Lapen. It is a premium alcoholic beverage with 40% alcohol, a favourite of Bayu despite costing twice his weekly pay.

“C’mon! Cheers dude! Let’s enjoy our life to the fullest under the pale moonlight!”

“Are you really going to finish the whole bottle? Just take one shot at a time, like me. You’re weak when it comes to a drink like this.”

“You know, and you still come! You are my best friend for sure! Just sober me up at the river, and I’ll be fine.”

Iwan knows what comes after, so all he can think about his ‘best friend’ is “he’ll be right,” or will he? As the bottle runs dry and Bayu’s liver takes care of the alcohol, Bayu starts his story.

“You see, I like a girl named Kaoruko. Her petite figure, long, wavy hair, and smile gave me the willpower to live.”

“So… you got yourself a Japanese girl?”

“Not quite. She already has a boyfriend called Rintaro. He’s as tall as my great-great-grandmother’s genter. But a girl called Hina, like me, was just as petite as Kaoruko. But I’m not really interested in her.”

“I see…” that is what Iwan said, but his mind voted for a motion of no confidence toward such a speech. If the mind must speak, “What in the world is he talking about? He just drank Lapen a few seconds ago, and now he needs to be sobered up already?”. As expected, pouring one's heart out turns to basedless yapping.

“Hehe, Iwan, look at this… I studied German, English, and Spanish. There are several words that are similar to each other. Two, zwei, duo, dos, dwi… mother, mutter, madre, mater… I believe a predecessor connects these languages. Stretching from Spain till India-“

“Aight, you’re not making sense, time to go home… Aaahhh, what a pain.”

Iwan carried his fallen comrade, waiting to be resuscitated. Bayu’s house is quite far, at Pogung Kidul. Indiscriminate public transport really saves Iwan’s back. In 20 minutes, he arrived at Bayu’s doorstep—a two-story house, thin like a pencil. A stack of stones and pebbles breathes life into a bleak wall. Bonded together by circular windows, aged bamboo beams, and wood ash.

“Ayu, please open the door. It’s me, Iwan. Your master is drunk again, I need to sober him up.”

“Welcome, Iwan. I can’t thank you enough for helping my master. I have filled the bath with hot water.”

“Thanks, Ayu, imma dip his body like a tea bag later. Please tell your master to touch grass every day; I know he’s a weeb, but living in a fantasy world only hinders him in society.”

“Yes, Iwan. I humbly apologize for failing to take care of my master.”

“It’s not your fault, Ayu. I must apologize as well. If only I had tried harder to stop him from consuming alcohol, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened. Oh yeah, can you turn on the TV, please? I want to see the latest news.”

“Very well.”

“Somehow, I got a bad feeling about this… What if another huge case shows up?”

“Meh, it’s just infotainment! Trashy stuff like that still lingers in this age.”

“Yea, yea… Time to dip you.”

Notes:

Buk: Bridge guardrail

Bayu means wind, pronounced like the word “bayou”.

Genter: A pole for harvesting fruit.